Alex Gesch ’08

Spring 2010 TRINITY Magazine, Career and Calling

Alex Gesch ’08

Major: Political science

Title: Yale law student

“I have been blessed with an extraordinary opportunity to study under some of the best law professors in the world, and I am seeking to make the most of it,” said Alex Gesch ’08, a second-year law student at Yale Law School.

Gesch said that although he has been called to the field of law, the realization that God was leading him in that direction developed gradually over years of study, prayer, and wise counsel.

“Through my professors and others I learned that a calling does not merely entail a laundry list of ‘Christian’ activities,” he said, “but consists of living one’s whole life ‘Christianly,’ especially in the area of our vocation.”

At the point in his life when God’s leading seemed unclear, Gesch said that “being found faithful in the little things” was preparation for what opportunities came next. Looking back on an example of this from his academic life at Trinity, he said that taking the introductory political science course was initially because of a personal interest. Later he understood how the class had shaped his view of Christian service in public life.

Other aspects of his time at Trinity that he credits with shaping his worldview and preparing him for graduate study include “phenomenal instructors and models of Christian faithfulness.”

The opportunity to study abroad was an integral part of that preparation, as well. “My semester in Oxford was a wonderful introduction to the next level of scholarship and learning,” said Gesch. “It was also a terrific life experience that allowed me to reflect on the benefits of the rest of my undergraduate education.”

As part of his current education, faith plays a direct role in his work, and Gesch summed up his main motivation with the words of British politician and humanitarian William Wilberforce: “To please God is a wonderful motivator toward that which is good and lovely. The desire to please man is full of dangers.” Said Gesch, “I expect that my career might change from time to time, but this motivation should be the foundation of all that the Christian professional thinks or does.”